Monday, 14th March 1666

For a few days, we saw no more land; then as I sat in the mess, tutoring before early dinner, a call came from aloft. "Land ho! Fine a port."

I smiled and told those at the table with me that it would be the Islands of Cabo Verde.

"How do you know this, Boy?"

"Captain is tutoring me in navigation, so I have the opportunity to examine the charts with him."

"Navigation? Are you learning to be an officer?"

"More just learning all I can. But with everything he is teaching me, it appears to be headed that way." I chuckled. "All except teaching me how to do his laundry, clean his privy, scrub the decks, polish the furniture, and so on."

Richard nodded. "Teaching you to obey and to be humble. Besides, those are all needed, and he needs someone he can trust to do them."

"Yes, I suppose. He began as a cabin boy, so he understands."

"Him? A cabin boy. A long way up from there."

"I read that Sir Francis Drake also began as one."

"Aye, they told us that in the Navy," Hank said. "But I'm curious. You're not yet fourteen; how'd you convince your father to let you go to sea so young? Mine forced me to wait to sixteen. Some here, even longer."

Do I respond? Yes, I must. How? "My father is unknown, so Mother raised me on her own."

"How'd you convince her?"

I winced. "The plague took her when I was twelve."

Hank slapped a hand to his mouth and mumbled through it. "Sorry. So sorry for –"

"Fret not. It is behind me now and well resolved."

He nodded. "And rather than taking you in, her family sent you to sea."

I shook my head. "No, I knew no family but her,"

"Oh!" Richard grimaced. "Did your tutor take you in?"

I shook my head. "No, I had no tutor but Mother, and she was teaching me reading and cyphering when she passed." I paused and thought. May as well tell it all. Their curiosity will pull it from me, anyway. "We lived in the mews behind Tavistock Street, in a garret above the horses. When my begging could not raise the fortnightly rent, the landlord evicted me."

Hank pursed his lips and examined me. "How'd you come from that to here?"

"I sought shelter for the night in the lowered jib of a barge near Billingsgate, and in the morning, when Captain hoisted the sail, I rolled out of it. By this time, we were away from his wharf and being swept by both wind and current – too late to set me ashore."

"And from there?"

"We continued downriver, and he taught me how to assist him sailing the barge." I shrugged. "He was pleased, and when he learnt of my circumstances, he offered to take me in."

"When was this?"

"The day before London began burning. We spent ..." I paused at the sound of the bell, and when I counted eight, I said, "We have lost track of time. I must go fetch his dinner."

Richard rose and motioned to Hank and Mic. "And we have the watch."

A while later, as I served dinner to Captain, I said, "When I was tutoring this morning, they began asking me questions about myself, and I could find no honest way to avoid answering. They continued probing, and when noon rang, I was not finished what I had planned to teach."

"This shows they are fascinated by you, Boy." He pursed his lips and nodded. "As would be any who get to know you – I have been since that first day aboard Bessy."

"This warms me, sir."

"But being aware of this, you must be careful how you show it, lest you be seen as boastful or self-important."

"Aye, sir. Some in the mess are braggarts, and seeing the reaction to their spouting and strutting offers me a frequent reminder."

He chuckled. "You will do well, Boy. At one bell, when you return to clean from my dinner, I will show you where we are on the charts and offer more lessons on navigation."

"Thank you, sir."

When I returned, he beckoned me to the tall table – the chart table, he calls it. As I approached, he said, "Tell me what you see here, Boy."

I examined the chart for a short while, then pointed. "When we left the Canaria islands, we set a course to miss Africa and to take us to the east of the Cabo Verde islands. On the thirteenth, we altered to make west to raise land. The call from aloft an hour or so ago shows its success. And here, you show our arrival." I tilted my head in question. "But we are not yet there, sir."

"Excellent, Boy. And no, we are not yet there. But we will be within a quarter-hour. On a chart of this scale, it is impossible to see detail, so we use a much larger scale chart."

"Scale, sir?"

"The relationship between the size of the land and the size of its depiction on the chart. On this one, a distance of one hundred miles is shown in only one inch."

Captain opened a wide, shallow drawer beneath the table top and pulled out another chart. "This one is a much larger scale, and we can see the detail we need." He tapped on the yellow island near the centre of the bottom. "We will anchor here off Porto de Praya on Isla Santiago."

I nodded. "For water and fresh provisions."

"Aye, Boy. I enjoy your easy grasp of details. But here, we will also pause a day to allow the crew a respite – we have been at sea for over two weeks."

"Why are the islands different colours, sir?"

"I do not know. This is a Dutch chart I found in the drawers, and there is no explanation written on it."

"Dutch chart? Oh, yes, of course. Have we any English charts?"

"Aye, we do. Because we are acting for the King, the Admiralty provided us with a full set for each ship."

"Oh! In my spare time, may I examine them to gain a greater appreciation of the world?"

"Yes, you may." He stepped back and pointed down. "The Dutch charts are in the bottom six drawers, and you can sort through them to match with the English ones and interweave them."

I nodded. "To save you from having to search through both of them for the best one."

"Indeed, Boy. And because we will be at anchor and stable, it would be easier for you to do this on the dining table."

I nodded at the wisdom of this and was about to reply when a call came down the voice pipe, "Captain, sir. Nearing the anchorage."

He replied into the brass funnel above the chart table, "I shall be directly up." As he strode toward the stairs, he said, "When you have cleaned from my dinner, come up top to watch the anchoring process and learn from it."